Program

The government has entrusted the CNRS and the CEA with the responsibility of leading the SPINTRONICS Research Program, operated by the ANR. With a budget of 38 million euros over eight years, the spintronics Research Program aims to address specific scientific challenges. The program works closely with the national public research community, benefiting from the support of university partners.

Spintronic context

The growth of the “digital world” comes with an environmental cost that can no longer be ignored. Projections indicate that by 2030, it will account for 20 to 30% of global electricity consumption. We need to reassess our priorities to aim for true conceptual breakthroughs. One of these breakthroughs is positioning frugality as a performance criterion.

One solution we propose: spintronics.
Fundamentally “richer” than traditional electronics, spintronics has already “revolutionized” certain fields, such as data storage and sensors. Today, new perspectives are emerging, offering opportunities to develop new devices that are both high-performing, energy-efficient, and reconfigurable.

As a result, the SPIN Research Program aims to support this new cycle of innovations through emerging and promising themes. In the context of regaining control over technological dependence in France and the European Union, spintronics has the potential to generate intellectual property and support an industrial renewal of major societal significance.

Missions

> Support innovative fundamental research in spintronics.

> Maintaining the leadership of the French community in Europe and internationally.

> Strengthen or create synergies with other communities and with national industrial players.

> To make spintronics a long-term part of the national electronics strategy in the fields of information and communication, artificial intelligence, security and health.

Actions

> Support 5 Main Projects selected for their potential to create scientific breakthroughs in spintronics with a strong societal impact.

> Create a national network of technology platforms for the development of innovative materials, advanced characterisation and multi-scale modelling. This network will provide France with a unique, integrated, world-class spintronics research infrastructure..

> Supporting exploratory collaborative projects open to the entire spintronics community, to push back the boundaries of the field and attract and stimulate young talent.

> Boosting the training of students, as well as engineers for industry, to prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow in emerging technologies based on spintronics.

> To share with the general public, academia and industry the impact of the SPIN Research Programme on the economy, the environment and the future of the digital world.

The spintronic community

The SPIN Research Programme has a dynamic scientific community.
The major areas of research that the programme supports will encourage concrete interactions between sub-communities that currently operate independently.

At present, research infrastructures are fragmented into local communities and are not always accessible to outside researchers. One of our aims is therefore to open up access to new synergies and collaborations to help each other and improve accessibility. Researchers will be able to conduct new research with a view to developing new and innovative applications.

In order to provide new knowledge and attract new prospects, the SPIN Research Programme is planning training courses to explain the concepts of spintronics. We also want to reach out to public institutions such as secondary schools to promote and raise awareness of this field.

Program governance

To meet the challenges that our Research Programme has set itself, a multi-level governance structure has been defined to guarantee the neutrality, quality and transparency of our work: